How much is a month of life worth?
This may be a strange question because prices for anything are determined by markets, and there is no market for a month of life – unless it is your life. Then the question is how much would you pay for that month or, how much would you ask your insurance company or Medicare to pay? I bring this up because of my concern (as well as many other people) about the cost of new cancer drugs. When I first began practicing oncology, it was an exciting time. Many new cancer chemotherapy drugs were being developed, and many of them had major benefits for patients. Also, they were not very expensive. We would be shocked if a cours...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - October 2, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
Michael Douglas got throat cancer from oral sex. Really?
Guess what. It’s might be true. How can this be? It turns out that about one-third or perhaps more of throat cancers (specifically called oropharyngeal – referring to the back of the mouth and the throat) are associated with an infection called human papilloma virus or HPV. HPV is a common sexually transmitted (by the standard way) infection that affects most women at some time in their lives and is the major, maybe only, cause of cervical cancer. That is why we have developed vaccines for this virus to give to girls before they become sexually active. If every young woman were vaccinated before becoming sexually acti...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - July 26, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
How do you know if you have inherited a high risk for breast cancer?
Lately, the news has been full of the story of Angelina Jolie and her bilateral mastectomy. Jolie carried the mutation for breast cancer known as BRCA. There are two BRCA gene mutations, BRCA1 and BRCA2. Mutations mean the gene is changed from normal. These genetic changes have slightly different risks associated with them, but in general, women who have them carry around a 70 percent of developing breast cancer at some time in their lives and perhaps a 50 percent chance of ovarian cancer. About 5 percent of all women with breast cancer have this mutation. Of course one can have a high risk of developing breast cancer for...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - July 24, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
How old do you have to be to avoid radiation therapy after lumpectomy?
When I was in practice, women would often ask if they really needed to get radiation therapy to the breast after lumpectomy. There was no question that for younger women, radiation was important. Without it the chances were pretty good that the cancer would come back sometime in their life. But what if the woman was over 70? We know that in general, breast cancers in this age group are typically not very aggressive or life threatening. And the inconvenience of those daily visits, often for 6 or 7 weeks was a lot for an older person. My default position was that the radiation was probably not necessary if the cancer was ...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - July 10, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
If you have cancer , you may be eligible for Social Security Disability Benefits
There are two programs you may qualify for. These programs are known as 1) Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and 2) Supplemental Security Income (SSI). To qualify for either program, you must prove to the Social Security Administration that you suffer from a disabling condition that completely prevents you from performing any type of work activity whatsoever. Almost all cancers qualify. For a complete list of all conditions that qualify for disability, visit the SSA’s blue book: http://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/ In order to prove your case, you need to submit as much medical proof as possi...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - July 1, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
Cancer treatment can mess with your brain
In this study, 189 women who had been recently diagnosed and had just finished their chemotherapy, were interviewed and tested. About one in five of these women complained about their memory and ability to organize and plan (called “executive function”). In general those women who complained of memory problems showed deficiencies on memory tests. Those with executive function complaints did better but still did not perform up to standard on the tests. The researchers concluded that “chemo brain” is a real phenomenon. There probably isn’t much that will change because of these studies. Kids with leukemia are muc...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - June 28, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
We can avoid arm swelling after breast cancer surgery – most of the time.
Conclusion: The extensive surgery isn’t needed in these women, which would result in a much lower risk of lymphedema. So as we are learning in many aspects of cancer treatment, less treatment may be just as good and less harmful. (Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog)
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - June 9, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
Why not try to prevent breast cancer?
Can we do that? The answer is yes! I’ve talked about risk factors for breast cancer that can be lowered. We know that staying slim, exercising, not taking post-menopausal hormones containing progesterone can reduce a woman’s risk of breast cancer. But we can’t change a woman’s genes. If a woman has the wrong genes, then all these things can help, but not enough. There are drugs that can reduce breast cancer risk. These are called SERMs – an abbreviation that says that these drugs attach to sites on cells where estrogen attaches. It is thought that estrogen fuels breast cancer growth. The first of these SERMs was...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - May 13, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
Another cancer we can prevent
Although no one talks about it much, one of the results of the AIDS epidemic has been that there has been an increase in the number of men diagnosed with anal cancer. This cancer arises in the anus, about a half-inch inside and above the opening. The first symptom is itching that doesn’t go away and then soreness and bleeding and finally, pain. In my practice, the only patients I saw with this were women. I wasn’t sure why until the discovery of HPV (Human Papilloma Virus). Not only is this the virus that causes cervical cancer and is sexually transmitted but now we know it also causes anal cancer. It isn’t clear w...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - April 24, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
It always hurts – is there a drug to relieve the pain of neuropathy?
In this study, they did not seem to be a problem and in general Cymbalta does not seem to have many severe side effects – especially compared to the discomfort of the neuropathy. So this drug gives hope to patients with this all too common problem and is probably better than gin. (Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog)
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - April 13, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
Our most important medical test device for cancer patients – the scale.
Sometimes in my practice, the nursing assistants would forget to take a patient’s temperature or even their pulse or blood pressure. But one test they never failed to do was to weigh the patient. Nothing better indicated a patient’s clinical status than his/her weight. If their weight was stable, then they were successfully holding off the cancer. If the weight went up, perhaps they were winning the battle. But if their weight went down, it was time to worry. Of course many will say that it is the chemotherapy that is making the patients shed pounds. Not true, except for some really harsh protocols. In fact, when we ...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - April 2, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
More tamoxifen may be better.
So you have been taking tamoxifen to prevent your breast cancer from coming back and are now approaching the 5-year mark. Time to stop? After all that was the deal your oncologist promised. And, enough hot flashes and worry about uterine cancer and blood clots developing. But things have changed. Your doc may recommend you keep taking the drug another 5 years. The good news is that your chance of having your cancer come back is reduced by around 25 percent. That is according to a new study just published in the journal Lancet (Mar 9 2013). There are lots of studies that show that 5 years treatment with tamoxifen is bett...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - March 20, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
Is proton therapy the best kind of radiation for prostate cancer?
My radio alarm goes off early in the morning. Often one of the first ads I hear while I am getting ready to move out of bed is from Loma Linda University Medical Center. They are pushing their proton beam radiation therapy early in the morning for old guys like me who might have prostate cancer and can’t sleep much past 5 in the morning. They hail it as causing fewer side effects than standard treatment. What they don’t say is that it is nearly twice as expensive as the standard therapy. So is it better? No one really knows. There have been no head to head comparisons with standard treatment. But, this week, The Jour...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - January 8, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
